Teen Suicide Prevention Week

Dear Editor

Social media and news reports have been filled with horrendous instances of bullying since the start of the school year. The extreme nature of the bullying includes children being thrust into toilets, defiled with faeces, body shamed, choked and attacked.

While the Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, has committed to working with provincial education departments, SAPS, and civil society to strengthen anti-bullying interventions and ensure that schools are equipped to deal with incidents effectively, the DA will submit parliamentary questions to establish what national and provincial interventions are in place to strengthen psychosocial support in schools to deal with the scourge of bullying.

We will also seek clarity on how the DBE is ensuring the effective implementation of the National School Safety Framework and strengthening cooperation between schools, SAPS, and psychosocial support services.

The DA has long advocated for increased psychosocial support at schools, including expanding teacher professional development programmes offered by the South African Council for Educators (SACE) to include a psychosocial component.

We also recommend that schools identify locations where bullying occurs and for the implementation interventions to lower the risk of bullying there, including the installation of cameras and patrolling of these areas by teachers.

According to Anti Bullying NGOs, around 57% of South African learners have been bullied at least once in their life. Statistics from Safer Schools show that more than 3.2 million learners are bullied yearly; 67% of these victims will not report their abuse as they believe that they will not be assisted.

Learners across the country continue to suffer physical and emotional trauma at the hands of callous classmates and teachers. Last year, a grade 12 student at Kgabo Secondary School in Ga-Mokgokong, 21-year-old Joseph Maimela, took his own life after allegedly being bullied by his teachers who reportedly told him that he would “amount to nothing”.

And he is not the only learner who has resorted to such extremes in efforts to escape the trauma of bullying at schools. The Department of Health reported 7,426 suicide attempts by children younger than 18 between April and December last year.

Teachers and other staff need to be provided with the necessary skills to prevent bullying. Every learner’s life is precious, and no one deserves to suffer trauma at the hands of classmates or teachers.

Regards

Dr Delmaine Christians MP
DA Spokesperson on Basic Education